Empathy

Empathy, a word rarely heard and therefore a quality not thought about much. Despite this, most people have some empathy inherently within as part of the human spirit. Therefore it is not hard for us to feel empathy if we allow it to well up within us.

A definiton of empathy is that it is the ability to identify with and understand another’s feelings and situation. So empathy starts when we comprehend the circumstances of someone else, and then feel for them.

Empathy is an attractive quality. When we are down or depressed, we are drawn to a person who can understand and share our pain. Empathetic people are good listeners too. By listening carefully we begin to understand what the person's problems are. It also helps us know if their position genuinely warrants our sympathy.

Then once we realise they truly need our empathy, then we know to give our feelings and think about what to say, when to listen and how we may be able to offer practical support.

Of course, there are so many people that could be helped, we could burn ourselves out trying to do too much. Also, the world generates problems that we cannot fix and in fact will not be fixed until a government comes along that actually cares for its own citizens. However, when we do meet some that are down for some reason, feeling for them, sympathising with them and giving practical help as we can is what makes humans so special.